


In the Halls of Horror

by ChromeEdwardian



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Introspection? In my fic???, repress those emotions babe, scorpia/nice things is my otp, the former glory of the scorpion kingdom, was i inspired by the downfall of the bourbons or the romanovs? you tell me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:01:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChromeEdwardian/pseuds/ChromeEdwardian
Summary: Does it bother Scorpia at all that she’s the last bastion of the Scorpion kingdom, severed from her power and her Runestone? Psht, no. Gosh, why would it?
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	In the Halls of Horror

The first deep breath of the morning smelled like oil and cold concrete, just the way it should. And like every other morning in her life, Scorpia thought something was missing from that bouquet, though she could never decide what it was. It had concerned Scorpia the first time she noticed it as a young girl, but in the intervening years, she had never been able to identify what it was, so she decided there was no harm in forgetting.

When she passed the Black Garnet chamber on her way to her assignment, she heard the sharp crackling of the runestone. Shadow Weaver was getting an early start this morning. Wouldn't Granddad be pleased if he could have known that the Black Garnet was in good hands? Wasn't it fortunate that Shadow Weaver, Lord Hordak's second-in-command, knew how to use the Garnet in a way that Scorpia never could? Everything worked out in the end.

The Scorpion kingdom never fell to the Horde the way other kingdoms had. Scorpia's granddad had seen an opportunity, and an alliance had been made, and Scorpia intended to honor that alliance and the sacrifices her family made.

Looking out the small port holes onto a vista of a Fright Zone courtyard as she walked past, she was strengthened by the knowledge that the Fright Zone wouldn't be the way it is now if it weren't for her family. She was super proud of them, and hoped that they would feel the same way about her. Scorpia, now a young woman, had heard nothing from the rest of her family for years now. One by one, they had faded into the chaos of the Fright Zone, not telling her when they'd be back, or where they were going, or where they were being taken. But she was not alone. No, she was never alone. She had her teammates. She had a job to do here--to do right by the Scorpion family name. She could prove to the Horde that she wasn’t a Princess at all, but a loyal soldier and a competent Force Captain.

Today's very important task as Force Captain, however, was to help out with taking inventory of the more sensitive armaments. Not the most exciting job ever, but hey, they couldn’t all be fun. Scorpia left the barracks and made her way outside to where the transport waited. The air was sticky out here, and close enough to the desert that its heat was trapped beneath the overwhelming clouds of exhaust in the sky. She received a data pad from her commanding officer and hopped onto the transport with the rest of the crew that would take her through the buffer zone and to the bunkers.

That afternoon after the work was finished, Scorpia watched the landscape roll past her on their way back. Before joining the ranks of the Horde, all Scorpia had known was her parents' little apartment in the depths of the Fright Zone. Lord Hordak had granted it to the royal family as a concession for their cooperation. For a time. By then, it wasn't the Scorpion Kingdom--just the Fright Zone. She would have loved to see the Scorpion kingdom at its height. Maybe back then other kingdoms had liked them better. Maybe the landscape was full of buildings just as grand as Horror Hall must have been, where important Scorpions could receive noble guests...have balls...all that other stuff other Princesses did.

When the transport arrived back at the barracks, Scorpia gave a friendly salute to the others and whistled a tune as she went over to the mess hall. They were serving The Gray Kind today, which was always a good day. Members of the Horde looked up at her as she passed. If they made any faces at her whistling, she chose not to notice--there was nothing wrong with a little cheerfulness in the barracks. She waited for the hydraulic doors to slide open, and for a slight moment she felt a twinge of anxiety. Would there be an empty table for her, or would she have to awkwardly sit down a few feet away from a group who were already talking with each other?

No, it would be fine. And if she did have to sit down with other people, well, that was okay too. They were all friends, after all: sticking together through thick and thin to get the Horde’s work done, risking their lives for one another. They’d be happy to have her join their table. If there was anything at all she was confident about, she was a _great_ friend.

"Oh, there she is. Hey Scorpia!!" someone called from one of the tables.

Scorpia stopped dead, letting her tray hang at her side. Who...? She looked around for the owner of the voice.

"Over here!" Two tables down from her were some of the younger Horde members. Really powerful ones, if she remembered right.

She recognized Adora. Everyone knew who she was. She was going to be made a Force Captain soon, if the gossip was to believed. And some other sort of familiar faces were sitting with her. Not her normal team.

"Uh..." she walked over, rubbing at the back of her head. "Hi there."

She felt so awkward standing above them, but she didn't want to misunderstand and sit with them if they didn't want her to.

"You all know Scorpia's a Princess, right?" said one of the boys, which made her feel very small; that wasn’t why she was here. It looked like most everyone in the group knew that already, but one girl looked surprised. "She can tell us!"

"Um...tell you what?"

"Come on, sit down," said Adora, scooting over to let her in. Gingerly, Scorpia tried to sit down without bumping into someone, which happened more often than she'd like. She tried not to think of herself as clumsy--it's just that people weren't as used to moving in the same space as someone as large and muscular as her.

"Do you know everyone?" Adora asked. "That's Clarissa, that's Dorian--"

Scorpia laughed. "Ador-ian! Sorry, keep going."

Adora smiled, which was nice of her. "And that's Georgia, and that's Alex."

"Hi! So...um...what did you want to ask me about?"

"Right!" said Georgia. "So if you're a Princess, do you know what the runestones do?"

Scorpia took a deep breath, and hoped no one noticed. "Oh, man, I don't really know about that. The Black Garnet's belonged to Hordak for ages. I wasn't even born yet." They looked disappointed. Clarissa and Alex had turned back to their food. "But they're really powerful, aren't they? They must be if Shadow Weaver is always messing with it."

"That's true," said Adora, looking thoughtful. 

Georgia leaned in. "Have you ever tried to use it?"

Scorpia didn't like this. "I mean, well no. It doesn't work though anyway.” The others were exchanging glances. “But that's good, right? I wouldn't want to be a _Princess_ anyway." She laughed weakly.

"I don't know, Scorpia," Dorian said. "That kind of power could let you go far in the Horde."

"Haha, yeah...maybe." Nope, uh-uh. It was too dangerous. And besides, she didn't need to get any kind of special treatment. She was happier as a soldier.

It looked like they were done asking her questions, so she waved goodbye to everyone and went to get her food. Hopefully they weren't out yet.

When work was over for the day, Scorpia brewed herself a large mug of soothing tea, a recipe her moms had passed down to her right before they...well...went away. That recipe had been of the few things she brought with her when she left for duty with the Horde. It had been in the family for generations. It wasn't so much a tea as a blend of different herbs and flowers. But her family called it tea, so tea it was. It was hard to find the ingredients now, so she was trying to make the last tin last for as long as she could. Once Lord Hordak made progress on taking over the rest of Etheria, she probably wouldn't even be able to specially request them from the Horde’s resupply missions. That would be too bad. She placed a vacuum-sealed lid on the mug. She had a nice evening ahead of her.

Horror Hall was the only ruin from the Scorpion kingdom that Scorpia had ever found. It was buried deep inside the mechanical labyrinth that was the center of the Fright Zone. It had been purely by accident that she had found it as a kid. She liked how no one ever went there. No one remembered that this place existed. It had been a great place to hide or play in, and now it was the only other reminder that her family had once been here. 

Down she went, deep into the purple shadows until the rusty infrastructure from decades ago gave way to stone.

Wide columns ribbed the hall leading up to the magnificent mural and the shattered throne, the whole thing shimmering in the twilight that broke in through a hole in the ceiling. In this place of her ancestors, she had created stories about their visages on the walls. Captain Pointy and Madame Pointessa, and their adventures. People she didn't know in places she'd never visit. Whatever thoughts she had about what could have been were just fantasies. That was okay. Imagining was half the fun.

Whatever Shadow Weaver was doing up there with the Garnet was in the best interest of everyone.

Probably.

She remembered one of her favorite daydreams where one of her ancestors--one who looked remarkably like her--went hunting through the palace and stumbled upon a secret nation of tiny people living nestled into the cracks behind the bookcases. They had never spoken in these fancies, but now...the words seem to come into her head without prompting: _Here lie the remains of the Scorpion dynasty. We were here--an attempt to leave our unique, insignificant mark on this planet, hoping that we would be remembered in the infinite history of Etheria, and the greater universe that we learned existed outside of us. But what did we want to be remembered as? Strong rulers? A vibrant culture? A valuable part of Etheria’s ecosystem? Did we make a mistake? Who will sing of us now?_

Scorpia pulled the lid off her tea and took a long...long drink.


End file.
